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Mickey Doyle
Mieczyslaw "Mickey Doyle" Kuzik (1888-30 August 1931) was a Polish-American bootlegger during Prohibition and a rival of Harlem liquor kingpin Chalky White. Doyle was associated with Atlantic City political boss Enoch Thompson and New York City gangsters Arnold Rothstein and Lucky Luciano, the latter of whom would murder him in 1931. Biography Mieczyslaw Kuzik was born in Grays Ferry, Pennsylvania in 1888 to a family of Polish immigrants. Kuzik was involved in petty theft, armed robbery, and hijacking before he decided to become involved with Prohibition in 1920. He used a funeral parlor as a cover for his whiskey racket, and he used chemicals to create bubbles in his drinks. On 17 January 1920, he decided to meet with Atlantic County Treasurer Enoch Thompson at the funeral parlor, showing Thompson his distillery and attempting to convince him to make a deal with him; there, he told Thompson that his new name was "Mickey Doyle", adopting the Irish name because he felt that it sounded better. Doyle got into a scuffle with Thompson's valet, Jimmy Darmody, when Doyle gave him a drink filled with fromaldahyde, making it taste like urine; Darmody threw the bottle at Doyle before Thompson broke up the fight and had Darmody leave the parlor. Darmody got revenge by telling Bureau of Prohibition agent Nelson Van Alden about Doyle's operation, and Doyle was imprisoned. Chalky White took over his businesses, so Doyle attempted to work with the D'Alessio brothers to murder White. They failed, and they were wiped out. Conspiracy and defection Doyle would later conspire with his rival Darmody and powerful criminals Lucky Luciano, Al Capone, and Meyer Lansky to assassinate Thompson and take over his business. Doyle introduced Darmody to his friend Manny Horvitz from Philadelphia, and Horvitz and Darmody would form a deadly rivalry. Doyle was beaten up by Horvitz when he blamed Darmody's assassination attempt on Horvitz on rival gangster Waxey Gordon, and Doyle sold his shares of the Philadelphia liquor when Darmody went missing. Doyle attempted to betray Luciano, Capone, Lansky, and Arnold Rothstein when they attempted to take his money from him, but the Bureau of Prohibition agent Nelson Van Alden was forced to leave New Jersey, leaving Doyle unprotected. He was forced to join forces with Thompson, becoming the crew boss in one of Thompson's warehouses. He attempted to build up his reputation by claiming that he had murdered Manny Horvitz, but the real killer Richard Harrow forced Doyle to admit that he was not the killer. Doyle and Nucky's brother Eli Thompson worked together to run the warehouse, and they were nearly killed in an ambush by Masseria crime family mobster Gyp Rosetti near Tabor Heights. Doyle would return to working as a member of Thompson's organization, being an integral part of his syndicate. Downfall By 1931, Doyle and Thompson were fighting against Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky as they attempted to take over Atlantic City from Thompson. Luciano and Lansky kidnapped Willie Thompson in response to the kidnapping of Bugsy Siegel by Arquimedes Ortiz, and Thompson decided to meet with the two criminals on the outskirts of Atlantic City one night to discuss a peace treaty. Thompson agreed to give up all of his businesses to the Genovese crime family in exchange for having his nephew returned, and Doyle was angered when he discovered that Thompson was intending to give up Doyle's businesses as well. Doyle began to talk to Luciano and attempted to convince him to allow for him to keep his businesses, but an unimpressed Luciano shot Doyle in the throat, nearly causing an all-out gunfight. Category:1888 births Category:1931 deaths Category:Polish-Americans Category:Americans Category:Catholics Category:Criminals Category:Crime bosses Category:Killed Category:Thompson organization Category:People from Pennsylvania Category:People from Philadelphia